attempting to put down roots

Tag Archives: sewing

please note, i’ve never made a quilt before in my life, and if you are an experienced quilter/sewer, dont concentrate too hard on the pictures!!.

for a last few months i’ve been working on a quilt made of baby clothing for the child i cared for for the first 5yrs of her life. her mother and i talked about this a few years back and she liked the idea so we piled a heap of clothing into a bin and i tool it home.

there the bin sat for a few years – i’d look round for inspiration and ideas and tried a bit of hand sewing but it just wasnt working for me. then a year ago i looked after the young lady for 3 nights while her parents were away and with the money from that job i treated myself to a sewing machine. from then, things looked up. i found an idea and template i could work with. then other projects and holidays got in the way!. finally, once i finished work in feb i made a mental note to crack on with this before the sewing machine was packed up to send to NZ in May. that spurred me on. i unpicked all the hand sewn stuff, brought a proper cutting mat and rotary cutter, and had all the pieces cut in a day. i then had strips flying off the machine…..

until i had enough to cover the backing. the backing was made from a blanket the young lady used to play on as a baby, with another blanket she used inside for warmth.

once the top was in one piece i felt it needed a boarder, so made one from a pair of old jeans of mine that i’d kept ‘just in case’. see mum….’just in case’ does eventually happen!!.

i also felt it needed the denim board to balance the denim in the quilt.

then things stalled again, as i’d hoped to start binding and joining it all together in the 2mth job i had, but that never happened due to an unsettled baby. so, that left the house sittng time i had. this worked out great, i could lie it on the floor – same floor she used to lie on the blanket on and play 7yrs ago!.

in the end i tied knots thru the layers to secure them, with a clear button holding it in place on the underside. i had had a go at hand quilting, but i didnt like the outcome, so went for something simpler. in the above photo you can just make out the buttons, and below you can see the tied off thread evenly spaced across the quilt.

and finally………ta dah……………

the before i ironed it photo, which is why it looks a bit uneven!. i forgot to photograph if after i’d ironed it!.

tonight i gave it to the family, and the parents and i are all feeling emotional about it, remembering her in the clothing. she was aged 1-3yrs when she was wearing these items – shes 8yrs now!!.

at some point over the weekend i’m going to take some more photos of her with it, as well as her parents, but may not share many of those.

i’m very proud of what i’ve made – it may not be a thing of beauty compared to whats out there, but there will be few that this many memories wrapped up in one piece. please be gentle on my beginner sewing abilities!!.